Employees increasingly responsible for incidents of data theft and loss

A recent study by B2B International and Kaspersky Lab has revealed that employee error is a major cause of internal IT security incidents leading to data theft and loss. The Global Corporate IT Security Risks 2013 survey identified the extent to which employees are to blame for these leaks, highlighting the dangers of employee carelessness when it comes to IT security.

The survey revealed that erroneous employee actions accounted for 4 out of 5 types of internal IT security incidents that occurred within companies, with approximately 32% of those surveyed reporting leaks caused by employee mistakes.

In terms of mobile devices, 30% of those surveyed reported that employees were responsible for the loss or theft of mobile devices. 18% also reported that incorrect use of mobile devices (via mobile email clients or text messaging) lead to IT security incidents.

The survey also revealed that 19% of companies reported that employees were involved in international leaks, while an average of 7% reported that employee actions were to blame for leakages of critically confidential information relating to company operations.